November 30, 2011

As Occupy movement protests helped push spiraling college costs into the national spotlight, Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged higher-education officials Tuesday to “think more creatively — and with much greater urgency” about ways to contain costs and reduce student debt. The Education Department characterized Mr. Duncan’s remarks, at a Las Vegas conference of college financial aid workers, as the start of a “national conversation” about high costs, which have prompted raucous protests across the country and ignited an angry push among some borrowers demanding debt forgiveness, federal grants and interest-free loans. Read more at:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/education/duncan-calls-for-urgency-in-lowering-college-costs.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

The muzzling of Stewart’s journal exposes the compromises to academic freedom that some American universities make in China. While professors and students openly discuss sensitive subjects such as the Tibetan independence movement or the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests on the Hopkins-Nanjing campus, they can’t do so in the surrounding community. Even on-campus protections only cover class discussions, not activities typical of U.S. campuses, such as showing documentary films in a student lounge. As the newcomers take advantage of multimillion-dollar subsidies from China, they may jeopardize the intellectual give-and-take that characterizes American higher education. Read more at:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/china-halts-u-s-college-freedom-at-class-door.html

It wasn’t the type of requirement college freshman Megan Rheingans expected to find on her syllabus. Not a study guide, textbook or fancy calculator. Mandatory: an iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad. Several colleges, including Central Michigan University where Rheingans attends, are using the latest tech tools as a counterpart to traditional textbooks. Rheingans, an elementary education major, uses her new iPod Touch for her introduction to education class where an Apple application takes attendance and helps spur classroom discussions. Read more at:http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2011/11/post_251.html

More than half (55%) of all higher education employees surveyed also say they consider themselves to be "beginners" at investing -- including seven in 10 Gen Y (71%), half (50%) of Gen X and half (51%) of Baby Boomers. In addition, more than six in 10 (63%) are concerned they will not be able to live comfortably in retirement. When it comes to tools and resources used to learn about retirement savings -- which can help alleviate such concerns -- the survey shows Baby Boomers rely mostly on guidance from financial professionals (42%) and employer-provided education materials (37%). In contrast, Gen X relies primarily on educational materials from employers (37%) and online web sites (36%) and Gen Y relies more on friends and family (54%) and online planning tools (41%). When asked about their plans for retirement, 46 percent of respondents said they will delay retirement or never retire at all. Read more at:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fidelity-survey-finds-younger-higher-education-participants-are-as-conservative-with-their-retirement-savings-as-their-older-counterparts-2011-11-28

November 29, 2011

In a study involving only online students where exams were not proctored, nearly 73 percent of the students surveyed admitted to cheating on at least one of the 14 quizzes they took over the course of a semester. The cheaters anonymously admitted that they consulted textbooks or class notes during the unmonitored test. That compares with self-reported cheating at a rate of about 56 percent for students in a course that blended online and classroom learning. The results overwhelmingly show that students have less fear of being caught and will cheat more in an online environment, honor code or not, the researchers said. Read more at:http://www.dailycamera.com/cu-news/ci_19403241

The sign out front says, "Perry Library." But, at first glance, a visitor might be excused for thinking he's in the wrong place. Old Dominion University's main library just doesn't look much like a library anymore. A $10 million renovation and expansion transformed it into something more - something tailored to fast-changing learning styles in a multimedia world. First off, where are the books? "It used to be just a library," ODU Provost Carol Simpson said on a recent tour of the expanded facility. "But the world has changed." Read more at:http://hamptonroads.com/2011/11/new-modern-library-old-dominion-speaks-volumes

If historically black colleges are going to survive, they're going to have to step up their collaboration, not only with schools and communities but also with one another, a panel of educators and policymakers said Friday in New Orleans. Three of the four speakers emphasized the importance of working with high schools and community colleges to prepare students academically and to ease the transition to four-year colleges and universities. in a climate of dwindling public appropriations and skepticism about the continuing value of historically black institutions of higher learning, no school can afford to be alone. Read more at:http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2011/11/unity_collaboration_seen_as_ke.html

November 28, 2011

Although their placards bore hundreds of different messages, students throughout the city shared similar concerns. They decried debt and tuition hikes. They lamented their job prospects. And they questioned the very narrative of college—its power to transform the lives of all those who enroll, study, and pay up. In the long run, Americans with a college degree are still better off than those without one. They will earn more money and fare better in the job market. While that's cold comfort to recent graduates with big debts, few job prospects, and a mattress in mom and dad's basement, it's true. But the economy has shaken the ground beneath students' shoes. A deep recession has altered many Americans' perceptions of their plight, of what's possible and who's to blame. In turn, the Occupy Wall Street movement has rubbed off on college students. Read more at:http://chronicle.com/article/Debt-Protesters-Lament-Higher/129902/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Even as college prices and average student loan debt rise, educators in some sectors of higher education report they’re also seeing plenty of students like Yeh. After watching debt cause widespread damage in their families and communities, they’re determined to avoid loans no matter what. What’s surprising is this: Educators aren’t sure that’s always such a good thing. Students who take extreme steps to avoid debt at all costs, they say, may get stuck with something much more financially damaging than moderate student loan debt. They may not wind up with a college degree. Read more at:

One of the greatest changes is that a college degree is no longer the guarantor of a middle-class existence. Until the early 1970s, less than 11 percent of the adult population graduated from college, and most of them could get a decent job. Today nearly a third have college degrees, and a higher percentage of them graduated from nonelite schools. A bachelor’s degree on its own no longer conveys intelligence and capability. To get a good job, you have to have some special skill — charm, by the way, counts — that employers value. But there’s also a pretty good chance that by some point in the next few years, your boss will find that some new technology or some worker overseas can replace you. Read more at:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/magazine/changing-rules-for-success.html?partner=rss&emc=rss